Here I Go

It's time! We leave tomorrow afternoon for Phoenix. I'm ready. I'm packed. Let's do it!!

I'm really looking forward to the warm and sunny weather. It's going to be perfect for the race and even perfecter for the rest of the vacation. I packed clothes that I haven't worn in months and I'm looking forward to getting a tan. As I may have mentioned (ha ha), it's been cold and rainy here. And it's going to be like this for months! So I'm going to soak up every ray I possibly can.

I'm also really excited about seeing all the family and friends that will be there to support me. Deana and Dana are flying down- they have been great supporters of Zach and I in all our races around Portland since we moved here. Plus we have family that lives there, Zach's aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandad. Zach's dad and stepmom are driving over from San Diego too- Melanie (Zach's stepmom) has been a big inspiration and basically got me interested in triathlons after hearing about her tri adventures. Also, I am excited to finally meet fellow blogger KelsaLynn! I'm thrilled that my wonderful friend Maritza is coming down from California. It means so much to me. She and I ran our first marathon together 4 years ago and the rest is history. And last but not least, Inga, my bestest and oldest friend, who lives in Phoenix. I wouldn't be doing this race if it wasn't for her. Having a built in support system in the Phoenix area made this race seem approachable, and her support has been huge. She's been my best friend for 25 years (holy shit, really?) and I can't wait to see her. With all these people cheering me on, how can this be anything but amazing?? I love that IMAZ is a loop course (3 loops for the bike and 3 figure 8 type loops for the run) so I get too see my crew like a dozen times. I will never be alone!

After the Ironman weekend we are spending a couple of days in Phoenix and then driving over to San Diego for Thanksgiving with Zach's folks. We are all doing the Turkey Trot together (I'll walk it with his Dad, Zach and Melanie will run it) and then feasting with the best of 'em. We've done Thanksgiving down there like 5 of the last 6 years or something and it is always a great time. I can't wait! It's going to feel SO good to finally be able to truly relax. After 6 months of training for an Ironman, you better believe I'm going to indulge myself.

And the icing on the cake is that when we get back to Oregon there will be parties and celebrating with all my kick ass friends here- Emily, Alisa, Sarah, Amy, plus more Deana and Dana (you can never have enough Deana and Dana!). And Zach's Mom and stepdad from Montana are coming to visit in early December too! And of course, it'll be Christmas time. Which is my favorite!! Cookies and Christmas movies and shopping and carols and yay yay yay.

My mom and dad aren't going to make it down to Arizona, although I know they really wanted to. I wish they could but it's fine- plus I know my mom would be so worried seeing me when the smiles stop in the later miles (to put it mildly). Ha ha! They have been so amazingly supportive of me my whole life and especially in this latest endeavour. Although I have to tease my mom- last year when I registered, I was visiting for Thanksgiving and when I ran in to tell them I got an entry, my mom had the most worried look on her face! "I was hoping you wouldn't get in," she said, only half joking. SO cute. Don't worry Mom!! I GOT THIS.

Mom and Dad will be tracking me online on Sunday and so can all of you. Visit www.ironman.com and watch for the link which should appear on race day. Right now the athlete tracker is not obvious but it should be on Sunday. Zach will also be posting updates on Facebook and maybe a couple pics too.

I will be thinking of all of you every time I hear that Beeeeep of the timing mat. I will know that you are right there with me, just as you have been along this whole awesome journey. Thank you all so so so much for your kindness, encouraging words, and reassurance. I am inspired by all of you- all your marathons, triathlons, half marathons, everything- I read all of it and I am so impressed and proud to call you all friends!! Thank you for being a bunch of hard core athletes and for creating this environment of crazy that we all thrive in.

Since apparently this is turning into an Oscar acceptance speech, I'd like to say one final enormous thank you to Zach. He is my bubby bear, my best bro, my coach, my training partner, my chef, my psychologist, my hero, my reason for living. I am the luckiest girl in the world and I could not have done this without him.


There's no need for a "Goals" section here because my one and only goal is to finish. Of course I have a strategy, which involves pacing, but who knows how this will ultimately play out. I have 17 hours to finish the race (with various cut off times for each leg throughout the day) but I think I'll be finishing in under 14 ish. For tracking purposes, I'll give my planned time for each leg of the race. Of course anything can happen, but based on my training and assuming everything goes good, here it is. Swim- 1:35. Bike- 7:30. Run- 4:30. ISH. Who the hell knows?! It's going to be crazy and awesome and difficult and who knows. It's going to be an adventure, that is for sure.


Finally here are just a couple of photos from the last week. I'll update you all as soon as possible after the race. Whew.


Good luck flowers from Mom and Dad sent to my work:



Rainbow after one of the many rainstorms (pic taken from Zach's office window)


Mt. Hood at sunrise. This photo makes me want to cry.

Thank you for reading. :)

Cucumber Cool

Another super taper week in the books. Not much swimming, VERY little biking, some quality running, lots of napping and movie watching and relaxing. Love it.

I had a few taper pains pop up- some were my fault and some were completely unexplained. I know this is normal and I tried not to panic. Thankfully everything cleared up quickly. I didn't take any chances and eased off even more than was probably necessary, but whatever! Now is the time to play it safe.

The funny thing about this week is that while I had no problem skipping swims and bike rides, I couldn't get enough running! I think all the energy my body is storing up wanted to escape a little bit in my running this week. I busted out some faster miles and it all felt so effortless! I had to make myself hold back and didn't run as much as I could have. It is the taper after all.

I don't know what it is but I'm feeling so calm and relaxed and positive about the race. I'm not nervous at all really. I know it will sink it at some point but I'm feeling fine at this point. I guess I am a little anxious, like when I was getting my things together tonight I kind of snapped at Zach. Oh who am I kidding, that is totally normal. I guess I am just prepared enough that there isn't anything to freak out about? Like I got all my freaking out out of the way over the last couple of months. Works for me.

I keep coming up with little things to do, like wash my running shorts and pick up Ziploc bags, but everything is coming together. This weekend I got lots of miscellaneous things done- Zach and I practiced tire changes, I trimmed my nails, I soaked my wetsuit and hung it to dry, I called Inga in Phoenix and went over the weekend plan. I started packing tonight and will finish tomorrow night probably. I only have a few little workouts this week (note to self: take it easy on the running!) but mostly just getting as much rest as possible and thinking positive.

Here's the recap of this last week. Pretty light!

Monday: Bike
15:00/stationary bike
This was supposed to be my rest day, so I just went to the gym with Zach to do a light strength training session. This was a mistake! I kind of jacked my shoulder up. Dammit! I stopped immediately and went up to the cardio area and rode the stationary bike for a while. Frick!

Tuesday: Run
7.0/58:38/8:22 average pace
Fabulous run in the pouring rain. My legs were feeling fresh and speedy and I loved it. I ran the last 3 miles at 7:44 average pace!

Wednesday: Swim
1250 yards/40:00
Zach had the day off work for Veteran's day so we went to the pool together. I realized pretty quickly that my shoulder was very slightly sore and decided not to push it. I did mostly kicking while Zach swam.

Wednesday: Run
5.0 miles/40:50/8:10
Another fabulous run, again in the pouring rain. I drove up to Forest Park since I haven't been up there for a couple of weeks. It was wet and muddy and cold and awesome. Once again my legs were having trouble holding back and I cranked out my last three miles at 7:48 pace! Speedy legs!

Thursday: nada
My lower back was randomly tight all day at work, so I decided not to bother with the short bike ride I had scheduled. My shoulder area felt better but didn't want to swim either.

Friday: Run
3.5 miles/30:31/8:43 average pace
Easy run with Zach after work. Thankfully, no rain this time!

Saturday: Bike
11.9 miles/49:43/14.3 MPH
I really wanted to get my bike out for a ride before I dropped it off for transport. My back felt fine and I decided not to use the weather as an excuse, although I could have - it was only 34 degrees out when we were ready to leave! We bundled up and headed out for a short ride down the Springwater. As soon as we got back we took my bike up to Athlete's Lounge on 26th and Thurman. There were several bikes there already, like maybe 10. I was glad to see that there were 4 road bikes alongside the tri bikes. The manager of the bike shop is actually doing the race too and he arrived right as we were leaving. Good to know his bike will be along with mine! Makes me feel more secure. I said goodbye to my bike and left it in their hands.

Saturday: Swim
1800 yards/45:00
After the bike ride I watched a couple of movies on TV and took a little nap. Zach finally woke me up and we went over to the gym. My shoulder felt fine and I got a nice swim in. I even did the first 1000 y without my nose clip! Good to know that in case I somehow lose it in the race I will be ok. We took a long steam and soak after the workout and then back home for more movies and relaxing.

Sunday: Run
9.0 miles/1:19:31/8:50 average pace
Today I went for an easy long-ish run up on Marine Drive. It was cold and windy but only a few sprinkles, thankfully. I felt great. After the run I drove across the river and visited Emily in Vancouver. She just got back from her honeymoon in Hawaii so she showed me a bunch of pictures and we sat and chatted the afternoon away by her fireplace. Cozy! Back at home I packed some of my stuff and now Zach and I are watching tv and relaxing. And eating ice cream. (Pumpkin ice cream from Cool Moon)

totals for the week:

swim: 1:25 (3050 yards)
bike: 1:05 (11.9 miles- ha!)
run: 3:30 (24.5 miles)

total training volume for taper week 2: 6:00

Definitely embracing the taper!

ONE WEEK to Ironman Arizona. :)

Sorry for the lack of photos lately, but I promise there will be more photos then you could ever want to see in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading! I'll be back with another post before I leave for Arizona on Thursday. Have a great week!

10 Day Forecast and 182 Day Recap

The 10 Day Forecast on weather.com officially includes race day now, although I've been watching it on Accuweather's 15 day forecast for a while. The conditions are going to be great- it will start out in the low 50s and reach highs in the low 70's, or something like that. Sounds delightful! Especially because it's been very cold and rainy here the last couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to some sunshine.

The race is actually just 9 days away and I'm so excited. I've got a few minor things to take care of this weekend and I'll be dropping my bike off for transport tomorrow. Then I'm going to start packing my stuff based on a collection of established and solid lists. We leave Thursday afternoon.

I'm really loving this taper period and I'm feeling really relaxed. I'm enjoying having time to hang out with Zach and watch hockey and sit in the hot tub and visit with friends. I'm keeping my diet pretty healthy, mostly avoiding alcohol, and getting tons of sleep. All systems go!



Along with looking forward to the big day I wanted to take a look back too. I put together a little training summary to recap all that went into my Ironman preparation. I am going to keep it pretty brief and then later I'll do a longer reflection on the training and what I really thought of it and whether I'd do something like this again. So here are a few facts and figures on my Ironman training journey. The totals are up through the end of last week, so the final two weeks (taper) aren't included.



I signed up for Ironman Arizona on November 24th 2008.

I officially began training May 11th. That was 28 weeks, or about 6 1/2 months, before IMAZ 09.

My training volume over 26 weeks (6 months) averaged 12 hours per week.

My training volume in the 10 week peak period averaged 14.5 hours per week.

My highest volume week was 18.5 hours in week 25.

My longest bike ride was 107 miles (Harvest Century Ride). I did 9 rides over 60 miles.

My longest run was 20 miles. I did 7 runs of 14 miles or longer.

My longest swim was 4200 yards. I did 7 swims of 3000 yards or longer.

I participated in 4 triathlons during my training: Blue Lake Sprint, Hagg Lake Olympic, Lake Stevens 70.3, and the Aluminum Man Olympic.

Besides the triathlons, I did 9 Open Water Swims.

I ran one running race, the Timberline Trail Half Marathon, where I won my age group!



That's it for my quickie update. I'll be back to recap this second taper week and then again next week to post my goals (spoiler alert: FINISH) and final thoughts and stuff. I'll also post the tracking info and all that. My race number was posted a few days ago and it is #2252. Yay! This is really happening!!!!

Thanks for reading. :) Have a great weekend!